Simple CTD services are known using hydraulic motors to provide the rotational torque in the drill bit using hydraulic pressure of a suitable fluid. Whereas initial efforts at CTD were based around remedial work in an existing wellbore, the technology is now used to drill wells from surface and to sidetrack existing wells. Both overbalanced and underbalanced drilling techniques have been evaluated along with advances in directional drilling technology.
However there are significant drawbacks with the existing hydraulic motor systems. They have a very low durability, due mainly to the failure of seals and generally to the problems of transmitting high pressure over long distance in a well. Such failure requires withdrawal of the whole string from the well. Also, conventional coiled tubing drilling techniques have a limited choice of drilling mediums.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a method of downhole drilling and apparatus therefor which alleviates or overcomes at least some of these disadvantages.